Two World Problem
by Byakusharinnegan
Summary: Sequel to Three Year Legacy. Tobi has unleashed his plan to combine the Eye of the Moon plan with the Dragon King Festival in order to gain himself control over two different universes. Lucy isn't going to let this happen, but she has to hurry. Naruto's been captured, and it's only a matter of time before he looses the Kyuubi...as with Three Year Legacy, it's AU.
1. Begin

**First off, I'm sorry for leaving that last chapter of that last story as a cliffhanger.**

**But, here's the new chapter! Win win!**

**Disclaimer of the whole story: The day where I own any of these famous mangas is the day that you have traveled to some strange alternate universe that has been messed up to the point where I can actually create some famous manga. In other words, I don't own Fairy Tail or Naruto.**

**School is my enemy when it comes to posting new chapters. And getting lost. I have no sense of direction, so if you ever meet me in real life, don't ask me where something is. Like that time where it took me a week to remember where my Biology class was...and my math...and my Spanish****...**

**Here's the new chapter, guys. It's exactly 3000 words!**

**Fail rapping is fail. I can rap as much as I can write romance. Which isn't much.**

* * *

This is the first thought Naruto had upon waking up.

"Where the fuck am I?"

"Do you even want to know?" asked a blond woman with a Kumo headband.

"We're in the Akatsuki lair, if you must, they left us here, to-OW! Yugito!" a man with sunglasses and a Kumo headband rubbed his head (where a bump was forming) and gave a disapproving look to the blond woman.

"Stop your rapping, Bee, and I won't have to hit you."

Naruto blinked.

"Either way," said a new voice, "The Akatsuki have managed to capture all of us by making it seem as if we died from a chakra illness."

"Gaara?!" yelled Naruto. "They got you too? But you're the Kazekage and everything!"

"That doesn't make me immune to diseases, Naruto."

"Oh. Sorry."

"So this is the Kyuubi jinchuriki..." a man who seemed to be covered in red-cloth-armor spoke up.

"A bit more stupid than I expected, though," added in a man with a strange brown Iwa headband. "But perhaps stupidity is the way to survive the Kyuubi."

"Hey!" protested Naruto. "I didn't choose it!"

"But you know," said a green-haired girl. "Most jinchurikis are some relative to the Kage of the village."

"Is that so?" wondered Naruto. "That's weird...I don't think I'm-"

"Fourth."

Everyone turned to the man with the brown Iwa headband.

"What do you mean, Roshi?" asked the man in red."

Roshi pointed to Naruto. "He's a dead ringer for the Fourth Hokage if I ever saw one, Han. Even you should know that."

"It didn't cross my mind, but now that you say so..."

Both Iwa jinchuriki paused to examine Naruto.

"But then what would his relation be? Younger brother? Cousin?" asked the green-haired girl.

"Fuu, he's probably the Fourth's son." said Yugito.

"Yugito, you'll have to elaborate, since we all need you, to-"

Yugito interrupted Bee. "The second jinchurki was Uzumaki Kushina, and Kumo spies reported her spending a lot of time around Namikaze Minato before he was the Fourth. She probably was pregnant with Naruto here, and the Kyuubi attacked Konoha when she was giving birth."

Gaara nodded. "That is likely."

Naruto had now noticed something.

"Wait, there's only seven of you. Where's the eighth?"

"The Sanbi escaped when the jinchuriki, the Fourth Mizukage Yagura, died." said Gaara.

"Then who're the rest of you?"

"I have the Ichibi, as you already know," said Gaara.

"I've got the Nibi," said Yugito.

"Yonbi," said Roshi, "And Han here has the Gobi."

Han nodded.

A man with brown hair and a blue robe stepped out.

"I'm Utakata," he said. "I have the Rokubi."

"And I've got the Nanabi!" said Fuu.

"The Hachibi lies, inside of me, and I am, the rapping Killer Bee," said Bee, completely oblivious about how terrible his rapping was.

"Good morning, little people!" came a happy voice as Kisame walked up, Itachi trailing after him and looking completely disinterested.

Naruto proceeded to curse Kisame out in every single language he knew. Which was one language, but he made an effort.

"Nice to see you too, Naruto." grinned Kisame as he plopped down in front of the cell. "Guess what we discovered!"

"That you're complete assholes?" asked Naruto.

"Nah, that was a given. We figured that out a long time ago. In fact, I think I remember Itachi saying when he was drunk that he had-"

He was immediately shut up with a thrown rock, courtesy of Uchiha Itachi himself.

"How about that you should go die in a ditch?" asked Han.

"Dying by drowning in a river is a much better death," said Itachi from where he sat perched on a rock. "A clean river, though. It gives a wonderful view, when people look for you and they find you at the river's bottom, laying on a bed of smooth pebbles and having crystal-clear cool water run over your face-"

He paused.

"Either way, the real leader of the Akatsuki is Madara."

"Hey!" said Kisame. "That wasn't fair! You got to say it first, and in Normalian too!"

"You were taking too long."

"Itachi-san, you were the one who was going on about dying in a river..."

BONK.

"Alright, Itachi-san, whatever you wish."

"Are we done here, Kisame?"

"Well...why were we sent here anyways?"

"To see if they were all alive."

"Well, then, we're done. Leader-sama is going to get the Ichibi, right?"

"I believe so."

"Well, then, let's go tell him the Ichibi's alive and kicking."

Itachi strode off, Kisame following.

Gaara stared at them. He sighed.

"It seems as if I'm the first to die."

"Don't think that, Gaara!" said Naruto. "When they go get you, I'll help and we can all escape!"

"That's impossible." said Yugito.

"Why?"

"They wouldn't be so stupid as to take him while we're all awake, y'know." said Fuu. "They're probably gonna put us to sleep first or something."

Naruto scowled.

* * *

A few days passed without incident, with the food and water being brought over, usually by some random shinobi who had been hypnotized by Itachi's Sharingan.

And then everyone woke up one day and discovered Gaara missing.

After some screaming, standing-in-shock-ing, and thinking, Roshi suggested that when the meals were served, one person would eat first, and, if they fell into a drugged sleep, it would alert them that the Akatsuki were going to take one.

This method seemed to work for a month, until one morning Yugito had disappeared.

"I was sure that we waited a long time until we ate and slept!" protested Fuu.

"Perhaps they switched the drug?" asked Utakata.

"It's certainly likely," said Roshi. "After all, they probably have surveillance on this cell. They could've noticed it, and used a slower-reaction drug."

"Those bastards..." muttered Naruto, sitting at the front of the cell and glaring, as if he was trying to shoot a laser beam out of his eyes.

"Hey Naruto, you should calm down, it's a lot better, then sitting there with that frown! Yeah!" said Bee, trying to cheer Naruto up.

"They took Gaara...I'm going to get the back for that..."

"Me too, Naruto. Me too. They took Yugito..."

* * *

"Damnit! Where is that beast?!" Kisame almost yelled in frustration.

Itachi turned to him. "Hn."

**(Uchihanese Translation Here (U.T.H.): Do not think that finding the Sanbi is an easy thing.)**

"Kisame has a point, uhn." said Deidara. "It's a gigantic turtle with three tails. How hard can it be to find it?"

"The turtle can easily hide itself in a deep lake." said Sasori.

"Then, we can just drop bombs into every deep lake we come across, uhn."

"Deidara..."

"Yes, danna?"

"Do you know how many deep lakes there are in the Elemental Nations _alone_?"

"About 34, uhn."

"Yes. 34, but hundred. 3400. How long do you think it's going to take us to bomb all of those 3400 lakes?"

"Well-"

"It'll take 3 years, fastest."

"Now, now, you can relieve all your sexual tension when we get back to the base, so stop arguing like a married cou-"

"Damnit, Kisame, shut up, uhn!" screamed Deidara.

"Hn." said Itachi.

**(U.T.H.: You see, this is why I sit on a separate bird.)**

Sasori scowled.

"May I come over?"

"Hn."

**(U.T.H.: You may as well.)**

"Thank you."

"Hn."

**(U.T.H.: No need.)**

* * *

"Holy mother of all things holy! I found the giant turtle!" Kisame screamed as he pointed to what looked like a giant turtle shell.

"Hn."

**(U.T.H.: Well then, go capture it.)**

"You're not helping."

A slight shake of the head.

"Alright then."

Kisame jumped off.

"FOOOOOR THE SHAAAAARK-MEEEEEENNNNN!"

Sasori watched, amused. Then he shoved Deidara off his bird.

"CUUUUUURSE YOOOUUUU, DANNNAAAAAAA! UUUUHHHHNNNNN!"

"Hn."

**(U.T.H.: I suppose we wait now.)**

"Well," said Sasori, "There always's that tea shop about fifty metres away."

**(A/N: Wait...is it spelled "meters" or "metres" or something else?)**

"..."

* * *

"So you're saying...that the royal family...is joined with that masked man that was in Red Dawn at the tournament...and the royal family is plotting to take over the world?!"

Lucy sighed.

"No, Makarov."

"Then what?"

"The royal family isn't plotting to take over the world, Madara is."

"That's what I said."

"Yes. Sure. Whatever." Lucy scowled.

"Either way, do I have your assistance or not?"

Makarov frowned.

"We will have to discuss it..."

Lucy nodded.

"I understand."

"Thank y-"

"So, that's Fairy Tail: No. Way of declining: Pretending to need time to think about it." Lucy scribbled on a small notebook.

"Alright," she said, clapping the book shut. "Next stop,"

"Wait! We said we needed time!" said Makarov.

"It's either a yes or no," said Lucy. "No maybes or depends-on-the-situations or let-me-think-about-it-for-a-bits. I have much to do, so please excuse me."

"She really hates us, doesn't she?" asked Lisanna.

Mirajane absently nodded.

* * *

"Lucy!"

Lucy stopped.

Wait.

It can't be...

"Yo! Luna! Luigi! Lucky!"

"It's Lucy, Anko-san!"

"Ah! Well, I got it pretty close!"

Lucy spun around.

"Tenten! Anko!"

Mitarashi Anko ran up, dragging Tenten behind her.

"Yo! Luffy! How are ya?"

"I'm fine...how'd you get here?"

Tenten scowled. "This weird masked guy said something about not being able to afford distractions on the Hyuuga...then he teleported me and Lee away. But I can't find Lee..."

Anko grinned. "Don't worry! We'll find you dear sweetheart soon!"

"He's not my sweetheart! He's my teammate!"

Anko waved her off.

"Then, Anko, how'd you-"

"Well, I was walking along, wondering if I should go to the Daifuku Dango Stand or the Furukawa Dango Stand...oh, have you been to the Furukawa Dango Stand? It's amazing! They even made a song! See! Dango, dango, dango, dango, dango, daikozoku~"

**(I don't own the Big Dango Family Song!)**

"Anko..."

"Oh! Sorry. Either way, I saw this weird shadow thing, so, like every smart person should do, I followed it."

Tenten and Lucy both thought, _I don't think that's what smart people do..._

"And then I followed it through an alley, and then the shadow turned out to be this guy with an orange lollipop mask. I remember seeing him somewhere, and hearing something about him that wasn't good, so I marched straight up to him like the genius I was."

_Are you sure that's not sarcasm?!_

"And then he kinda flipped out, and next thing I know, I'm here. Then I walk around and find Panda-Girl here, looking for Big Brows Jr."

"I see..." Lucy decided to just accept it; after all, if you overthink things, your brain could melt. **(Or if you're doing calculus.)**

"Alright! First, we find Lee. Then, we figure out how to teleport back to our world. Then, we kick ass and save both worlds. That sound like a good plan to you?" asked Anko.

Tenten and Lucy nodded.

"Good! Let's go! We can even make a guild to make it more interesting."

"That would be better," said Tenten. "Even if we're a wandering guild, we can still get requests for jobs and make money that way."

"Then what name should we have?" asked Lucy.

"Well, we probably shouldn't have a girly name..." said Tenten.

"Good choice!" said Anko. "I've been thinking about it for a long time. We should call it Unknown Variable."

Tenten and Lucy turned to Anko.

"You've obviously been planning to make one the entire time, haven't you..." muttered Tenten.

"Yup! Now let's go find Lee!"

Anko walked a few paces, then stopped.

"Change of plans. You guys find Lee. I have to get the guild established, after all, I am the guild master."

"Who made you-"

"I'm the oldest."

"That made sense." said Tenten. "Well, we're off."

"I'll find you guys later!" called Anko as she walked off.

* * *

After a good half hour of searching, Tenten and Lucy more or less walked into Lee, who had been searching for a good hour for Tenten.

"Lee! There you are!" shouted Tenten. "Now we have to find Anko!"

"I'm right here guys! And I got our new guild stamp!"

Anko held up a question-mark stamp.

"We're going to all have it in the same place, and that's on our right eyelid."

"...Why?" asked Lee.

"Simple! The "right" side is like the "right" answer, or you think of "right side" as the side you're supposed to be on! And who can forget the phrase "all-seeing eye", and that ninjas should always remain hidden? It's on the eylid, so they can only catch it when you close your eye."

"You've been planning this for a reaaaaallllyyyy long time..." said Tenten, drawing out the "really" for much long than was supposed to be humanly possible.

"Now! Any ideas about who might be joining us?" asked Anko.

"The masked man said that any distractions to the Hyuuga could not be risked. That probably means that he means to somehow manipulate the Hyuuga, and Tenten and I pose a threat. We are close friends with Neji, and if we persuade him of something, he can relay this to the head. This in turn is risky, because not only is Neji the Hyuuga genius, he is also a nephew to Hyuuga-sama, and his words do have impact. I expect that Kiba and Shino may be joining us, as they are close friends of Hinata. Hinata is the daughter of Hyuuga-sama, and she has also shown courage, and because of this, her words also have impact. There is also Hanabi, as she is current clan heir after Hyuuga-sama passed over Hinata. If Neji and Hinata convince her of something, Hanabi can also cause much impact."

"How'd you-" began Lucy.

"I have had much time while I was looking for you," said Lee.

"No way! Look Shino! We found friends!"

Everyone turned.

"Shino! Kiba!" Lee called.

Kiba and Shino ran up to them.

"So glad we found you!" grinned Kiba. "We got teleported here by this weird masked man!"

He was abruptly hushed by Anko.

"Too many people," she said. "Let's go over there."

* * *

"I see. So, this Tobi guy is going to manipulate the Hyuuga clan." said Anko. "But why doesn't he also manipulate the Inuzuka, and Aburame?"

"Perhaps because the political strength of the Hyuuga is enough." said Shino. "The Hyuuga clan, in addition to the normal duties a clan has, also oversees a great deal of the civilian population. The Inuzuka and Aburame do not have enough, and the civilians we oversee can easily be swayed with such a number. After all, most humans have a tendency to "follow the crowd", if you understand."

"Alright. But what's our plan for this?" asked Tenten.

Anko shrugged. "First, we establish this guild."

One by one, Shino, Kiba, Lee, Tenten, and Lucy had their right eyelids gently stamped by Anko. Lucy then stamped Anko's eyelid.

"No, both."

Lucy blinked. "Why?"

"I'm the guild leader. Both of these questions marks can be interpreted as me knowing both sides of things."

Lucy shrugged but stamped the other eyelid anyways.

"When did you guys get here?" asked Kiba.

"About a few hours ago, why?" asked Tenten.

Kiba sighed. "Anko's been planning this before she even got teleported here, didn't she."

Anko grinned. "Ever since Kakashi and Gai went off and made a guild, I've imagined one!"

"Well, it certainly came in handy..." murmured Lucy.

"TO UNKNOWN VARIABLE!"

"CHEERS!"

And so, a new guild was born.

* * *

**Don't kill me please, don't kill me please, this chapter wasn't much of a cliffhanger, right? Right?**

**...RIGHT?!**

**I will stop with these cliffhangers for a bit. **

**I have no idea what the fudge this is turning into. I didn't even know I had the capability to write out the whole "Hyuuga Theory" thing at all. Huh. **

**...That must mean that the only writing thing I really need to work on is persuasive writing! :D...D: NOOOOO-**

**Either way, whether you followed me on Three Year Legacy, and then followed me over here, or you just realized, "Holy crap there's a story before this!", WELCOME TO TWO WORLD PROBLEM, EVERYONE!**

**Byaku~**

**(Owl and Nachi have kind of abandoned me... ( ´Д｀) )**

**I am now pretty much solo-ing this story.**

**And for this story, I still can't write romance to save my life, so expect as much romance as Three Year Legacy.**


	2. Royal Celebration

**I am sorry for being pathetically late on the update. School decided to troll me by giving me five projects at pretty much the same time, and then the American Government trolls me by shutting down. That means every site that has ".gov" in it is shut down, which makes a Biology project on a national wildlife refuge damn near impossible to do properly. But I managed it...now I have to figure out how to share a powerpoint.**

**Thank you to Kuro-Izazumi for being the first reviewer. And I am sorry to say, but in this story, Tobi thinks that if he controls the Hyuuga clan, he can get all the candy shops that are under the Hyuuga clan's watch to give him candy.**

**Response to The guy hating's review: This story is AU, which means that I am changing all this stuff around. Also, Lucy has gone through shinobi training for three years, I believe it's enough to significantly power her up (heck, look at Naruto Shippuden. Naruto went from a little hyperactive teen to this guy who can...well...do a lot of different kinds of rasengans and even now he can work together with the Kyuubi and stuff). Also, in order to make something where all the characters don't care when a character leaves, you have to make sure that every single character never cared for that one leaving character in the first place. No-one in Fairy Tail hates Lucy, and Lucy doesn't hate Fairy Tail. She might say so, but in reality she just feels betrayed by Natsu.**

**Random Question:**

**Does anyone know what the fudge-a-duck is going on in this story? Because I don't. I don't get how we got to Tobi taking over the world at all.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, or Naruto, and I agree that Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail and Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto.**

* * *

"GODDAMNIT ALL YOU BASTARDS! GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT LIKE REAL MEN!" came the yelling voice of Han.

Roshi had been taken away this morning it seemed, and Han was convinced that if he made enough noise, he could distract the sealing.

"RAMEN! MICE! ALMOND-POPPY MUFFINS! UMBRELLAS!" Naruto screamed right after him. Naruto thought that this was a pretty good idea, and joined in as well. The only difference was that while Han was yelling things they could understand, Naruto seemed to be playing a game of "flip through the dictionary with your eyes closed and yell the word your finger lies on."

When Fu climbed up on everyone's backs to look out the window they were given, she had said the base was nothing more than a cave somewhere in the Land of Wind. This would probably mean that the yelling would reach the sealing room.

"LET ME OUT BEFORE I'M ANGRY, OR ELSE I'LL BEAT YOU ALL DIZZY! YEAH!" Bee rapped. Unfortunately, his rapping still sucked.

* * *

"Will those guys ever shut up?" muttered Kisame. Due to his great amount of chakra, Kisame could afford to pay less attention to the sealing than other members.

Itachi gave a right eyebrow twitch in return. Kisame took this to mean, "When they die."

"Alright, Itachi, whatever you say..." Kisame turned his attention back to the sealing, while the three voices of three different jinchuriki rang out from the other side of the wall.

* * *

"I swear, there is something messed up with Anko's way of thinking," muttered Kiba as the new guild picked their way across a marsh to reach their client's home.

"Well," said Tenten, "We're not dead yet, so that's one thing she did right..."

"That's not exactly making up for this."

"Look on the bright side, okay?"

"I'm trying! But it's impossible!"

Tenten refused to respond and instead continued on her way.

She knocked on the door.

"Yes, I'm coming!" came a voice.

"That sounds familiar..." began Lee.

The door opened, showing Ino.

"Ah, you-YOU!"

Tenten grinned. "Nice to see you too."

* * *

After the client had sent Ino out to lead the team to the disturbance that had popped up, the interrogation began.

"So, how'd you end up here?" asked Kiba.

"You know that guy in the council who's all bandaged up?"

"You mean Shimura Danzou?"

"Yeah, him. Well, after Naruto just disappeared, he got the Hokage to declare a state of emergency. Chouji, Shikamaru, and I were deemed "hiding" and they sent us off somewhere. But instead, we got taken to this masked man, and he teleported us. I landed here."

"So...that means we don't know where Shikamaru and Chouji are."

"Huh? No, Chouji is here with me. It's Shikamaru we're worrying about."

"Hey...what's that?" Tenten asked, pointing to a giant rock that seemed to be carved out of the hillside.

"That? That's what the client wants us to destroyed."

"Lee."

"Yes!" Lee leapt forwards, and with a powerful kick, shattered the rock.

And most of the hillside.

And a good chunk out of the ground.

They could hear a faint "NOOOOO" echoing out from the direction of the client's house.

Tenten frowned. "I take it that we're not getting paid for this, are we..."

"Nah. But we can just leave, right?" asked Kiba.

"But what about Ino and Chouji?"

Ino shrugged. "That's fine. He never liked us being around, he was rather superstitious."

"Oh. You want to join our guild?"

"Might as well. We don't know anyone else anyway."

* * *

"Alright! We have two new members!" grinned Anko. "Now listen up. I heard the other day that the royal family was holding a giant celebration, and that 3 lucky guilds would get the chance to visit them! This is the perfect chance! It's happening in about half a year, so we have to get ready."

Tenten frowned. "But how does Tobi fit in?"

"Well, if you say that this world's time matches up with our home world's time, in about half a year it's going to be Konoha's turn to host the Chunin Exams."

"But what does that-"

"Lots of people come to watch the Chunin Exams, and the fact that it's the Autumn ones makes it the most popular. Tobi will probably cast it on Konoha, and the visitors will carry the genjutsu trace back with them, so Tobi can expand his control there."

"So...what do we do now?"

"Well, first, we have to get to the capital and sign up for the meeting. Then, they should contact us so we can all do a battle royale thing. But it's ok, I think I can scare quite a few guilds off."

* * *

_Five days of traveling later..._

"Yo! Is there where you sign up for the royal meeting thing?" asked Anko.

The official who had just started his shift internally cursed.

"If you mean the privileged meeting, then yes. Please fill out this form."

"Sure! Where does this go?"

"The forms go to the Inspector, where the number of applicants is greatly narrowed down."

* * *

"Oi! Hibimaru!"

"Yes?"

"Here's the forms for the guild and royal meeting. Look through them, and eliminate all but 10."

"Yes, sir."

Hibimaru sighed and rubbed his forehead. This was so troublesome...he just wanted to sleep, but no. His genius had gotten him as the chief assistant to the Minister of Guild Affairs.

He scanned through them, discarding most of the forms, before abruptly pausing at one. He paused and reread it, but this time more carefully.

~~PRIVILEGED MEETING FORM: PLEASE FILL OUT ALL BOXES OR YOUR GUILD IS AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED~~

Guild Name: Unknown Variable

Guild Founder: Mitarashi Anko

Current Guild Master: Mitarashi Anko

Number of Guild Masters since founding: 1

Number of Guild Members (including Master): 7

Member Names You Wish to Bring (cannot exceed 10): Anko Mitarashi, Rock Lee, Tenten, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Ino Yamanaka, Chouji Akimichi, Lucy Heartfilia.

Reason for Signing Up: Why the hell not? :P

~~THANK YOU FOR SIGNING UP FOR THE PRIVILEGED MEETING~~

Hibimaru twitched slightly at the face sticking out its tongue.

But...those names...there was no mistake.

Hibimaru smiled, and deliberately placed it into the "chosen" pile. For a moment, there wasn't a Shitsu Hibimaru anymore.

"Hibimaru! You almost finished?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute."

Shitsu Hibimaru reappeared, and strode off, feeling a lot better about the world.

* * *

Tobi stared at the calendar at the wall.

His plan was so close to finishing...yet so far away...

Giving a sigh, he turned back to his television and continued watching this game that was apparently called American Football. He personally didn't understand where the name "football" came from, as it was mainly consisting of throwing, running and tackling. In fact, the game probably should've been called hand-egg or hand-olive or something like that. Maybe Tackle-ball, if they insisted on keeping the "ball" part of the word.

Ah. That guy threw the hand-egg through the giant fork thing.

Hmmm...should he root for the pirate people or the people with "SF"...

* * *

"BANZAI!" cheered Anko when she saw her guild's name posted on the board. And it was the first one!

Then she calmed down and read through the rest of them.

Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, Sabertooth...the rest of the groups seemed rather random, as Anko had never heard of them before.

The rest of them...while Anko hadn't been there personally...well, the less competition, the better.

"Hello, Lucy? Yes, I need you to take out a few guilds...after all, there never was a rule against preliminary elimination."

* * *

Hibimaru blinked. Apparently, 5 guilds had dropped out; mainly, the 4 not-so-famous guilds and Mermaid Heel.

He scowled as the report apparently said that a shadowy figure had threatened them with a strange knife-like object.

Anko was really pushing the rules, wasn't she...

Damn it. There was more work for him now.

* * *

Anko was walking when she felt someone following her.

She walked faster.

The person walked faster.

She whirled around and pinned the person to the wall.

To her surprise (and appreciation), the person did not panic, but simply waited for her to release him/her.

"Now...what do you want?"

The figure took off his hood.

"My name is Jellal Fernanades. I wish to speak to you about this Tobi...and his plot to take over these two worlds."

* * *

"Arcadios."

Arcadios paused in his work. Quickly checking that the door was locked and that no one was listening in, he went to the mirror by the wall and pressed his hand upon it. On it appeared the face of Tobi.

"Madara."

Tobi nodded in acknowledgement.

"How is the plan proceeding, Madara?"

"It shall be ready soon...when will you be ready?

Arcadios bowed.

"My apologies, but, while we have located the holder of two of the keys, we are still in the processes of acquiring Lucy Heartfilia."

"How long will you be?"

"We have invited the guild she is in to the Royal Celebration. I will do my best to pull some strings so she may attend."

"Very well. Do not fail me."

"Yes."

Tobi vanished. Arcadios sank to the floor. Gods, this was so much harder than he had hoped.

* * *

"Look, Master! We got nominated for the event!" exclaimed Mirajane as she held up the form.

Makarov smiled. "Who else?"

"Um...Blue Pegasus got in, and Lamia Scale, and...Sabertooth..."

"I thought there were 10?"

"Um...Mermaid Heel, Laughing Clown, Winged Survey, Rose Garrison, and Military Horn all dropped out...for reasons they refused to say..."**  
**

Makarov frowned.

_While it's good that we don't have to deal with Kagura...I am worried about Jura...he only seems to get stronger the more time passes...and Sabertooth...yes, Sabertooth...it is most worrying..._

"Wait. Who is the 10th guild?"

"Eh? Oh. Um..." Mirajane scanned the sheet.

"Well, it seems to be a new guild; it's called Unknown Variable."

"A fitting name indeed," huffed Makarov. "I haven't heard of anything like that."

* * *

**I apologize for the only-2000-word chapter. But I figured I might as well publish this before I got thrown into a project loop again.**

**If you know who Hibimaru is (and seriously, I think I gave too many clues) then review and guess...or review and tell me.**

**I think there are many unsolved mysteries in this chapter...I'M SORRY I'M SORRY GUYS DON'T KILL ME...which part would you like me to elaborate on? Review and tell me.**


	3. The Second Way to Open the Gate

**Nachi is confused about this story. Unfortunately, I can't help her since I'm confused about this story as well...but somehow I am getting this. **

**...**

**I wish it was the same for math.**

* * *

"So...You are Jellal Fernandes..."

"Yes."

"And you are part of a three-person guild called Crime Sociere.."

"Yes."

"And you wish to learn about Tobi's plan so that you may stop it."

"Yes."

Anko sighed. "You do know that if we fail, there's a pretty much certain chance that you'll die, right?"

"Yes."

Anko sighed again. "Can you say anything other than 'yes'?"

"Yes-oh, my apologies."

Anko sighed for a third time.

"Well, at least you're all strong...so, what are your names? Also, your magic too, please."

"My name is Jellal Fernanades, I specialize in Heavenly Body Magic. It revolves around astronomical objects."

"I'm Meredy, and my magic is Maguility Sense, which can connect people's senses."

"I am Ultear Milkovich, my magic is the Arc of Time, and it allows me to manipulate the "time" of substances."

"I see..." said Anko. "That can certainly be of help..."

"So, what should we do?" asked Meredy.

"Well...for starters, we have to get to the castle. How much do you know about the royal family?"

"Enough to write a 7-book-long series on it, and turn that series into 8 movies." said Jellal.

"Ok...can you describe some suspects?" asked Anko.

"Well, the royal family itself is rather...malleable, as they are easily influenced by various trusted and powerful people. Arcadios is one of these people. I recall him as being one of the few who for certain knew about the location of the Eclipse Gate."

"I've heard about the Eclipse Gate...isn't it supposed to be for destroying Zeref before he is born?"

"That is the so-called reason, yes. The actual reason is that it is used to stop the destruction of Fiore."

Anko frowned. "Destruction as in..."

"Not necessarily physical destruction, it could mean the end of Fiore as we know it."

"How does it operate?"

"The reason why it is not in operation is because of Lucy."

"What about me?" asked Lucy, stepping into the room.

"Your keys."

"My keys?"

"The 12 Zodiac Keys are required to both open and close it."

"But...I only have 10."

"The other two belong to a Yukino Aguria."

Anko grinned. "But they can't open it without all of them, right?"

"Yes."

"Then, we just have to keep them from getting Lucy. And Yukino."

Jellal nodded. "Yes, but there is one problem..."

"What?"

"If the nine mythical beasts are combined...it will also open the gate."

...

"Wait a minute..." said Anko. "WHAT MYTHICAL BEASTS?!"

* * *

Hibimaru was in the library.

And, for once, he wasn't sleeping.

He was reading.

Reading about the Dragon King Festival.

"Hibimaru!" the Minister of Mage Affairs called. "Where are you?"

"I'm here!" he shouted back. "I'm reading about the Festival so I may be able to think of any necessary precautions."

"Very well, carry on!"

Hibimaru breathed a sigh of relief. Then, he began rapidly flipping through the pages with the speed of an intel-collector.

_THE ECLIPSE GATE - OPENING THE GATE_

_The Eclipse Gate is a passage way to a time exactly 400 years in the past, and can only be used when the sun and moon intersect. The 12 Zodiac Keys are required to both open the gate and close it. The Gate will also absorb any available magic in its near vicinity. However, the 12 Zodiac Keys are not the only way. If the nine mythical tailed beasts are brought together in a single object before it, the Gate will open as well. (See THE ECLIPSE GATE - THE 9 BEASTS for more information)_

Hibimaru flipped to the correct section.

_THE ECLIPSE GATE - THE 9 BEASTS_

_A long, long time ago, there was a great mythical beast with 10 tails. It rampaged the earth and killed many. One day, a strange man with strange magic appeared to defeat the beast. He had rippled purple eyes and great speed and strength. He also seemed to be able to manipulate the elements. The man chased the beast down and sealed it into himself. But despite his great power, he grew old and weak. He then broke the beast's magic into 9 smaller, less powerful mythical beasts. These new beasts were ordered in turn of the number of the tails. The strange man then sealed what remained of the Ten-Tailed Beast into the moon. It is believed that the strange man sealed himself into the sun so that he may keep watch over the Ten-Tailed Beast. This is the reason why the combined beasts can open the Eclipse Gate, as the Gate can only be used when the sun and moon intersect._

_There are 9 tailed beasts. Each beast supposedly has been sealed into a human container, although this is not known as there has been no trace of them in this world. All beasts are humongous beyond comparison._

_The One-Tail is a tanuki._

_The Two-Tails is a blue cat that seems to be made of ethereal fire._

_The Three-Tails is a turtle._

_The Four-Tails is an ape._

_The Five-Tails is a strange horse with the head of a dolphin._

_The Six-Tails is a slug._

_The Seven-Tails is a winged rhinocerous beetle._

_The Eight-Tails is an strange octupus-ox hybrid._

_The Nine-Tails is a monster kitsune._

Hibimaru paled. The book had just described in pretty darn good detail the tailed beasts.

So, he did the best logical thing someone would do in this situation.

He mentally screamed.

_"FUUUUUUUUUUUU-"_

* * *

Ino paused.

"What is it, Ino?" asked Chouji.

"I suddenly felt a giant surge of frustration."

"Oh."

* * *

Hisui E. Fiore, princess of Fiore, looked down at the 5 guilds that stood before her.

Sabertooth. Fairy Tail. Lamia Scale. Blue Pegasus. All well-known guilds...

She turned her head to the last guild. Unknown Variable.

And then there was that one.

...And then there was that one...

Well, at least it might be more amusing than the Grand Magic Games.

* * *

Anko was a bit irritated.

Lucy had done a wonderful job, but...Fairy Tail was there.

It was irritating.

Fairy Tail was strong. Very strong. That meant that Fairy Tail was trouble.

The fact that Fairy Tail had an unoffical alliance with Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale wasn't helping.

It wasn't helping at all.

Anko sighed.

Well, the enemy of one's enemy is one's friend, isn't it?

* * *

Minerva scowled. Why was someone knocking on her door at the middle of the night?

She walked over and opened the door.

"Hey, you're Minerva, right?"

Minerva frowned at the spiky purple haired lady.

"What of it?"

"You know that Fairy Tail has an unoffical alliance with Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale, right?"

Minerva's scowl grew a little more...scowlier, for the lack of a better word.

"Are you suggesting something?"

"I'm the master of Unknown Variable. I'd like to know if you're willing to help me eliminate those teams?"

An alliance? Minerva's scowl wasn't really that much of a scowl anymore.

"Fine. But only you take out both Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale. I want Fairy Tail."

"Oh, that's fine."

"Very well then, good night to you." Minerva closed her door.

Anko retreated back to her room, feeling as if she had gotten the last Dango-Daikazoku-Dango from the Furukawa Dango Stand.

* * *

"Eenie, meenie, minie, mo, catch a tiger by the toe, if it hollers let is go, eenie, meenie, minie, mo, my mother said to pick the very best one and you are it!" screamed Anko as she let her hand fall on the picture of a pumpkin.

"Ah." said Tenten. "You picked Blue Pegasus."

Anko was silent for a few minutes.

"So I have to take out that old fart?"

"...Er...sure..."

Anko's head slammed on the desk.

"Why is a pumpkin related to Blue Pegasus anyways..."

"Ask Lee." said Tenten. "He drew the pictures."

"LEE!"

"Yes!"

"Why'd you draw a pumpkin for Blue Pegasus?"

"Oh! That's because pumpkins can fly!"

"..."

"..."

"...WHAT?!"

* * *

"No, really!" said Natsu. "I saw Lucy with that guild!"

Mirajane sighed. "Natsu, I know that you're still wanting to apologize to Lucy, but she's part of Phoenix Reborn. Since Phoenix Reborn vanished after the Grand Magic Games, we can say that Lucy vanished as well."

"No! I'm certain!"

"Natsu, calm down..." said Lisanna, who was sitting next to him.

"But-!"

"Natsu, enough."

Mirajane turned. "Master!"

Makarov walked past them.

"We cannot act like children and fret over these things," he said.

He walked into his room and shut the door. Once he was sure no-one was coming in...

"NOOOOO! MY ICHA ICHAAAAAA!"

* * *

"Now, watch closely," Anko said to an audience of about 50 officials. The guilds were at an analysis stage when they were screened for their skills, ability to amuse, and ability to try and limit their destroying powers. Fairy Tail had failed the latter, though.

Anko continued with her act.

"This is a red ball. I will now toss the red ball at my assistant's head."

Anko threw the ball at Tenten's head.

Suddenly, the ball embedded itself deep into the opposite wall.

All the officials oohed and aahed, as if this was extremely interesting.

(It wasn't.)

Anko continued to do various tricks that, while extremely simple for any ninja, were positively wondrous for the old, wise officials.

* * *

"Listen, old geezer, you'd better get the product ready in 3 months."

The old man, who mainly specialized in running a Magicharm Library, had originally been confused as to why the orange-lollipop-masked man had came in demanding _The Great Book of Eclipse Magic_. When the old man had told the masked man that the Magicharm Library was not authorized to carry this book, the man had then slid a sheet of paper on the counter. It said:

_~~BOOKS THAT ARE NEEDED~~_

_THE GREAT BOOK OF ECLIPSE MAGIC_

_THE 9 MYTHICAL BEASTS OF LORE_

_THE 9 MYTHICAL BEASTS: THE ONE-TAILED TANUKI_

_THE 9 MYTHICAL BEASTS: THE TWO-TAILED MONSTER CAT_

_THE 9 MYTHICAL BEASTS: THE THREE-TAILED ARMORED TURTLE_

_THE 9 MYTHICAL BEASTS: THE FOUR-TAILED KING OF APES_

_THE 9 MYTHICAL BEASTS: THE FIVE-TAILED DOLPHIN-HEADED HORSE_

_THE 9 MYTHICAL BEASTS: THE SIX-TAILED SWIFT SLUG_

_THE 9 MYTHICAL BEASTS: THE SEVEN-TAILED FLYING RHINOCEROS BEETLE_

_THE 9 MYTHICAL BEASTS: THE EIGHT-TAILED OX-TOPUS_

_THE 9 MYTHICAL BEASTS: THE NINE-TAILED KITSUNE_

_THE KEYS OF THE ECLIPSE GATE_

The old man was terrified. All of these books weren't exactly books, but ancient and valuable scrolls. He had timidly told the man that these titles were only found in the Royal Library.

A week after he said this, a news report stated that the Royal Library had been broken into and some extremely valuable scrolls had been stolen. Jellal, who had been reading the newspaper, knew that Anko would not discover this for a long time. He decided to see which Library might hold it.

A week after that, Jellal saw a masked man stride past him at midnight and enter the Magicharm Library that stood across the street. Jellal, disguising himself as an extremely drunk man who not only had difficulty walking but also ended up passed out in front of the Magicharm Library. In fact, the only reason he had been able to replicate it so well was because he had a Sensory Link with Meredy, and Ultear had gone drinking with Meredy, who happened to pass out at that moment. Fortunately, though, Jellal would still be able to hear; he would just wake up some time later with all of the information he gathered seemingly as a dream.

* * *

"...I've changed my mind. Get the package ready as fast as you can, or you die."

Tobi was irritated. It had taken him a while just to locate a Book-Keeper who had the ability to break the lock of a Royal Lock, and now the stupid old man just sits there trembling and refuses to do anything.

Tobi's irritation level shot up from Senpai-Senpai-Why-Won't-You-Acknowledge-Me to a Gosh -Damnit-Leader-sama-Let-Me-Get-My-Lollipop-Already .

The old man tremblingly nodded and tremblingly snuck off to break the lock.

It took much less time than expected; the man came out an hour later, obviously hoping Tobi was gone.

(He wasn't.)

The man sighed, and told Tobi that he had broken it already, since he _was, after all_, descended from a long like of lockpickers.

Tobi gave a nod, and thumped a bag easily amounting to a couple billion Jewels before grabbing up the box and vanishing in a poof of smoke.

The old man suspiciously poked the bag. Instantly, it let out a cloud of smoke, which sent the old man into La-La-Land until the day that Guards stormed the Magicharm Library in search of the Book-Keeper who had broken the Royal Lock.

(But that day doesn't come for a bit, so just ignore that.)

* * *

"Minervaaaaa! I found youuuuu!" Anko called out as she jogged over, completely disregarding the fact that Minerva wasn't exactly the guild leader of Sabertooth.

Minerva sighed.

"Yes?"

Anko grinned.

"We should share battle plans!"

Minerva's eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

Anko grinned again, and said quietly,

"Because, then we can drive those other three guilds into a corner and attack them! I've always wanted to test out my poison skills on the lovely redhead from Fairy Tail-"

"WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO TO ERZA?!"

Natsu slammed Anko into the wall hard enough to knock anyone out. However, when the dust cleared, there was nothing but a rapidly crumbling statue.

"You do know that that'll be counted as the cost for Fairy Tail, right~?" Anko said, perching on top of the platform where the statue stood.

(Makarov lost his hair.)

"I don't care! What are you planning for Erza?!"

"Oh~ That's none of your concern. It really depends..." Anko smiled and patted Minerva on the shoulder.

"After all, it's her choice."

Natsu gave a shout of rage and lunged at Anko, his fist covered in flames. Anko easily flipped away. She was about to knock him out, but a sudden twitch in her side made her stop. Anko pulled out the seal and read the message:

_Anko, get your butt over here. If you're in a fight, send Lee to take your place. TT._

Anko grinned.

"Kawamiri no Jutsu!"

Natsu stared. Where that crazy-purple-lady was, there was a guy...who kinda looked like Yuka...but only for his eyebrows...

What was with people and large eyebrows?

* * *

In another universe, Maito Gai sneezed.

"OH! Someone must be speaking about me! I must train harder!

* * *

In another universe, a man known as Arthur Kirkland (and also the Personification of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) sneezed.

"Bloody hell, that stupid American git better not be speaking about me again."

* * *

"Are you the one who has been fighting my guild master?" asked Lee.

"You mean the crazy purple lady?"

"Yes."

"Yeah! After a-"

"Very well than...Natsu Dragneel! I challenge you to a fight!" shouted Lee. "Let our youth rise and consume the sun!"

Natsu stared. "Whaaaa-"

And promptly got kicked in the face.

"Up, up, Natsu-san! We cannot fight like real men unless you try your best!" said Lee.

Elfman shouted out an agreement.

Natsu growled. "Fine, if you want..."

The two of them proceeded to fight, fire going everywhere.

Makarov lost some more hair. Technically, all the damage was being done by Natsu, as the bushybrow-green-kid was only using anything breakable as a platform to leap off.

Fortunately, though, Natsu was able to land a hit. Lee crossed his arms in defense, and Natsu glanced at his face.

His right eye was closed, and there seemed to be an intricate question mark on his eye...

_Is that where his guild mark is?_

"KONOHA SENPUU!"

Natsu coughed out blood as he was immediately slammed into the ground.

"That was an excellent fight, Natsu-san. I hope we may fight fight again." Lee bowed and disappeared.

"Hey Natsu, you alright?"

"Gray...they're going after Erza."

"What? Erza? But she's so strong!"

"They're strong enough. They feel like the guys from Phoenix Reborn, but they're not as strong as those Red Dawn guys - wherever they went."

"Is that so..."

* * *

"Tenten! I was going to have a fight! What is it?"

Tenten had a drawn expression on her face.

"Anko..."

"What?"

"Jellal came in today with some news."

"...This isn't good news, is it."

A shake of the head.

"Then spit it out."

"Tobi has gotten his hands on the books on the Bijuu and how to use their power to open the Eclipse Gate."

Anko stared.

"That means..."

"Tobi doesn't need the Zodiac Keys to open the Gate. He just need the Bijuu...and from the look of it, he's captured all of the Jinchuriki."

Tenten took out a slip of paper.

"Neji managed to send this to Lee, who passed it on to me. It said that all the Jinchuriki have 'died', which means that he's probably captured them."

"...That's the end of the bad news, right?"

"No...apparently Tobi killed Pein-"

"Oh fu-"

"And he acquired the Rinnegan-"

"Oh double fu-"

"But the Akatsuki kinda deserted him. Oh, and Itachi kidnapped Sasuke."

Tenten paused.

"I'm still confused about the last part, but Neji's message was cut off."

Anko groaned.

"So, Tobi is ready to take over the world, but he doesn't have the Akatsuki on his side."

"Yes."

"Oh-"

**(We now omit the following 5 minutes of cursing in various languages as it is vulgar up to the point where is doesn't exist today in the real world.)**

"So," Anko said after 5 minutes of cursing. "Jellal, what can you do?"

Jellal shrugged. "I have a insider inside the Royal Castle, he's a genius and the chief assistant of the Minister for Guild Affairs. But he's lazy."

"What's his name?" asked Ino.

"I think it's Hibimaru Shitsu or something like that. He just told me to call him Nara, it's probably a code na-"

"It's totally Shika! Chouji, we found Shikamaru!"

Chouji barreled into the room.

"We did?"

Ino grabbed Jellal's shoulders. "Describe him. Now."

"Um...he has earrings...and wears his hair in a spiky ponytai-"

"It's totally Shikamaru! I knew he could get out of there!"

* * *

**And I am ending this chapter here due to a combination of wanting to update and lab write-ups that I have to write. Ugh.**

**On another random note, here is the potentially story-changing question of this chapter:**

**Would you like Natsu to meet Lucy again in this story?**

**Goodbye.**

**Byaku~**


	4. Bird's Eye View

**Random Question that May or May Not Affect This Story:**

**Do you permit OC's? Like, the occasional supporting character, like the Kiruto guy in this chapter?**

**(He's not really gonna have much of a major role...but he isn't dying anytime soon.)**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail...IS NOT MINE. Naruto...IS NOT MINE. That really tempting Cookies and Creme Hershey Bar...IS MINE TO EAT ONLY.**

**...**

**HERSHEYS...**

**Second Random Question:**

**What does Cadbury chocolate taste like?**

* * *

Tobi stared out at the world.

The ninja world.

They had recently finished sealing the Hachibi. This left just Naruto left.

Theoretically, he should've gotten it all done earlier, but...

Those damn jinchuriki. Through their combined efforts, Utakata, Fuu, and Bee had gotten Naruto to narrowly escape before Hidan found his way out of the sword forest and charged them...which is why he had all the tailed beasts but the Kyuubi.

Tobi shrugged and turned back to his last book: _The Great Book of Eclipse Magic_. It had been the largest, and therefore the last he read. From the previous books, opening the Eclipse Gate with the power of the tailed beasts was similar to unleashing the Juubi. The only difference was he needed to summon Juubi and control it, not unleash it...which was a bit of a shame...

A single passage stuck in his head.

_"The opening of the Eclipse Gate will connect the current to a time of 400 years past. This in turn will allow many events to happen, but the possibilities are too many to count. The main way is to siphon up much magic, gather the 12 Celestial Spirit Keys and a Celestial Magic to open the Gate. However, there is a second way. If the nine mythical tailed beasts are gathered, they will form an all powerful ten-tailed beast, but only the magical form. The physical body is trapped in the moon; if the physical body can be retrieved, then the Ten-Tails will fully form. If the user can control the beast, then the Ten-Tails can be told to do anything, which includes opening the Gate."_

Tobi smiled behind his mask. He turned to Zetsu. Zetsu was the only one that stayed with him...such a faithful thing...

"Zetsu. Find the Kyuubi."

"Would you like us **to sedate him?**"

"Oh, that's not necessary. I'd like to do the job myself."

* * *

"Tsu-na-de-sa-ma!"

Nara Yoshino placed (read: slammed) her hands on the desk of Godaime Hokage, Senju Tsunade.

Tsunade did not look up from her work.

"Yes, Nara-san?"

"Where-is-Shi-ka-ma-ru?"

"You will have to go ask Danzou, Nara-san."

Yoshino gave a huff and stormed off.

Tsunade sighed. Her hand twitched in the direction of her hidden sake drawer, but she dared not to reach for it while Shizune was watching her with eyes better than a hawk.

Or any bird for that matter.

"Shizune...is this really all necessary?"

"Danzou-sama _does_ have better knowledge of Konoha than you, Tsunade-sama. Please bear with it..."

* * *

"Yoshino! Yoshino, please consider this!"

"I will not! If that one-eyed-"

"Yoshino!"

"-bastard is doing anything to my precious Shika, I will-"

"Yoshino!"

"-castrate him with a rusty spoon and strangle him with a balloon animal..." Yoshino finished in the low, sullen voice little children have when they have been scolded.

Nara Shikaku sighed in relief.

"Please, Yoshino. Danzou-sama knows what is best for Konoha, and-"

"Don't give that shit! The one-eyed-bastard is a fraud and a liar, and you all are too blind to-"

"Yoshino! Please, hush! If he wishes, Danzou-sama can have you executed for endangering Konoha!"

"He can do that for all I care! He's the one who's-"

Shikaku quickly slapped a hand over his wife's mouth and dragged her off.

* * *

Danzou stared as the Nara clan patriarch dragged the matriarch off.

Nara Shikaku had been rather obedient lately...he would let Yoshino off, just once.

But after that...

Danzou turned and stared at the large, intricate seal that decorated the room.

He smiled.

* * *

"Hibimaru! Wake up!"

Shikamaru groaned and slowly lifted his head.

His coworker, an overly energetic young man named Kiruto (who seemed to idolize him), was shaking him.

"Woah, Hibimaru, I knew you were smart, but seriously? Drawing in your sleep? And such a cool one too..."

Shikamaru took the paper and stared.

And stared.

And stared some more.

And had a brain flash.

"I think...this is very important to me."

Kiruto shrugged. "Yeah, sure. But, hey, if you ever draw another one, can I have it?"

Shikamaru shrugged back. "Sure."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Once Shikamaru had found a quiet corner in the library (dubbed by Kiruto as his 'happy place') Shikamaru allowed himself to collapse.

That drawing...

It was the seal. The seal that Danzou used to send him here.

And if Danzou said was true...

* * *

_"Danzou...you're behind all of this, aren't you? You're secretly helping Madara..."_

_Danzou turned to Shikamaru, slight surprise in his eye._

_"Yes, Nara heir. Such a bright one. A shame you weren't in ROOT...you would have been a great asset..."_

_"As if I'd work for ROOT!"_

_"Hmph."_

_Danzou gestured to the large seal._

_"Do you know what this is, Nara heir?"_

_Shikamaru studied every centimeter (inch) of it._

_"It's...a seal. A trans-dimensional seal."_

_"Yes. And what type of trans-dimensional seal is it?"  
_

_Shikamaru had no idea what the goose-egg it was, so he took a guess._

_"A two-way trans-dimensional seal."_

_This time Danzou was visibly impressed._

_"Very impressive. Again, a shame you couldn't be in ROOT...and never would be..."_

_He gestured to the guards, who placed Shikamaru in the middle, turned around, and made a hand sign._

_The seal glowed, and Shikamaru found himself unable to move._

_Right before everything blacked out, he stared at the seal, burning its image into his memory._

* * *

Shikamaru smiled.

If he could get this seal drawn...he could find everyone and bring them back...

He paused.

But how to activate it?

The guards had turned before making the sign, so he didn't know that...

...

Lucy!

Quickly, Shikamaru dashed to the section of the library dedicated to "Mages Who Did Not Use Magic" and grabbed the book that said "Shokan."

He scanned the table of contents for "Abilities" and flipped to that page.

_~~ABILITIES OF THE SHOKAN CLAN~~_

_As with most members of this strange mage group, the Shokan mages did not use magic to do their spells - they used something else, which remains unidentified even today. The Shokan, however, were considered the stranger of the strange. While it seemed that other mages needed to sign a contract in blood with a Familiar before summoning it, the Shokan could summon a Familiar with no problem at all. They also seemed to have an ability to activate any spell that was written on any surface"_

Shikamaru slammed the book shut.

Now he had to find Lucy.

Time to pull some wires.

* * *

"Ah..."

Anko stared open-mouthed at the board.

At the top of it, in bright letters, it said,

"DUE TO A DECISION MADE BY THE ROYAL FAMILY, FAIRY TAIL AND UNKNOWN VARIABLE ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND THE CASTLE FESTIVAL."

Not only was there _another_ name change to the title (seriously, does being royal mean you can't think of a good title?), Anko was annoyed.

Like, really annoyed.

She was hoping that Unknown Variable would just quietly drop out, and then go on an info-collecting-rampage.

_Well, so much for that._

"If anyone disagrees, speak now or forever hold your peace!" The Minister of Mage Affairs said, obviously directing his voice to the two chosen guilds.

_Wait a minutes..._

Anko's hand shot up.

"Unknown Variable would like Sabertooth to go in our place!"

Everyone turned.

Fortunately, the ninjas managed to keep straight faces...kind of. Lee was doing what would be screwing his face up in concentration, but looked more like he was having...bowel problems, so to speak.

Minerva walked up the Anko and 'hugged' her.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

Anko grinned.

"Why, getting you a spot at the royal family and with Fairy Tail, of course."

"Why would you reject it?!"

"My guild has...different plans...we have to get something else done. Take care of royal family for us, would you?"

Minerva pulled away.

"Hmph. You'd better not screw up whatever you're doing, then."

"Oh don't worry about that~" Anko laughed and walked off, the rest of the guild trailing after her.

Minerva decided right there and then that she absolutely. Hated. Ninjas.

* * *

"ANKO-SAMA! I received word from Neji-kun!"

Anko whipped around.

"What did it say?"

Lee unraveled the scroll.

"It says...that Madara is only missing Naruto-kun! And that..."

His eyes widened.

"Danzou is making the Hyuuga clan go through a purge!"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"They have to fight! Whoever wins becomes seal-less, and whoever loses has a seal!"

"Anything else?!"

"Yes! Hinata is set to fight against Hanabi!"

"WHAT?!"

"Yes! And Neji says that he thinks that Hinata will end up with the seal!"

"FUDGE A DUCK!"

Lee rolled up the scroll.

Anko paused.

"Wait a moment...Lee..."

"Yes?"

"How'd the scroll from Neji get here, anyways?"

"Oh. That was a summon animal."

"Hm...Lee, when you were sent here, did you see a seal?"

"...Yes! Yes I did! But I don't remember it, I just remember being thrown into the middle of a seal."

"Then we have to find that seal, and get Lucy to send us all back."

* * *

Shikamaru groaned.

He face-palmed.

He head-desked.

He went back to the room he shared with Kiruto.

He walked in and closed the door.

He flopped down on his bed.

He lay there for the next half-hour.

After all that wire pulling, he had managed to get Unknown Variable into the top two, and what do they do? They blow it all up.

Well, figuratively.

But he was pretty sure they'd end up literally blowing something up.

"Hey, Shika, are you alright?"

Kiruto blinked down at him.

"Oh I'm fine..."

"Want something alcoholic?"

Shikamaru turned his head.

Kiruto was holding a bottle of HighFunTime, a rather alcoholic drink (about near vodka level).

**(Disclaimer: I don't know anything about alcohol though...all I know is that vodka is rather alcoholic...although that might be wrong.)**

"Nah...I think I'll just lie here..."

"Oh, like how a cloud of depression will eventually collapse in on itself and blow itself up?"

Shikamaru groaned and turned the other way.

He paused.

"Wait."

"Hm?"

"Why'd you call me Shika?"

"Hm? You don't like it?"

"Just asking."

"Oh. Well, whenever I see you taking a walk, you always seem to jump whenever something walks up behind you. Plus you can run really fast. So I thought calling you Shika was a good name for you, since Shika means deer, y'know?"

Shikamaru gave a grunt of consent.

"If you don't mind-"

Kiruto waved it off.

"I'm not stepping into this room for the rest of the evening, gotta go and sort out some files. Stay here and let your cloud of depression implode and explode. See ya."

Shikamaru sighed.

And slowly drifted off into dreamland...

_"SHIKAMARU!"_

Shikamaru jolted awake.

_"Ino?"_

_"You bet! Hey, you're the Shitsu Hibimaru guy, right?"_

_"Yeah...so?"_

_"Do you remember the seal they used to send you here?"_

_"Yeah..."_

_"Good!"_

_"Oh shit, gotta go, someone found us-"_

Shikamaru blinked.

Well that was weird.

* * *

"Itachi-san...where are we going?" asked Kisame as he and Itachi lept through the Konoha woods.

"We are going to kidnap my foolish little brother."

"And why is that?"

"Because I feel like it." This statement was accompanied by Uchiha Death Glare #27: Comment upon it and I will bring great pain upon you.

Kisame wisely decided not to comment.

* * *

Sasuke stared up at the sky with Uchiha Death Glare #32: Why is it raining?!

It was raining.

Hard.

Like, tiny drops of needle-y pain hard.

And your kind-of-ex-brother and your kind-of-ex-brother's-partner-in-the-non-romantic-w ay dropping out of the sky ha-

WAIT, WHAT?!

Sasuke stared hard.

Yup, that was definitely Itachi and Kisame.

Sasuke switched to Uchiha Death Glare #33: Why are you here?

Itachi dropped into the room.

"Hello, foolish little brother. Apologies, foolish little brother."

And the world went black.

* * *

Naruto ran through the woods.

He had to stop every few minutes to make a clone and send it of towards some other destination, and swerve in another direction himself, but the Kyuubi was helping him with directions and that was enough.

**"But where are you planning on going?"**

Naruto paused.

He'd never really though about that part, he was mostly focusing on the run-the-fuck-away-and-get-the-hell-outta-there part. Not the where-the-hell-am-I-going-to-run-to part.

But maybe if he went to Konoha...

**"They think you're dead, brat. And besides, someone would tell that Sharingan-eye-stealing bastard, and then you'd get sent back to the Madara-guy-who-is-definitely-not-Madara."**

That was another thing he didn't get. Kyuubi didn't think that Madara was Madara.

**"He's not!"**

Naruto decided that first things first, he should probably go somewhere that was more or less isolated.

Well, at least until the world went black.

* * *

"Itachi-san, was that really necessary?" Kisame asked, now with an unconscious Uzumaki Naruto on his back.

Itachi gave a noncommittal "Hn" and continued on.

* * *

**Well, that's the end of this chapter...**

**Some things to clear whatever stuff up:**

**The Akatsuki have 'defected' from Tobi, except for Zetsu. After Pein learned about the actual peace idea of Tobi, he refused to help Tobi and fled to Ame, and Konan followed him. Itachi saw this as the perfect opportunity, and, after some convincing, Kisame, Sasori, and Deidara went with him. Kakuzu and Hidan went since they were bored and since Kakuzu had this whole 'safety in numbers' thing going on. Zetsu is still Tobi's loyal minion.**

**Sasuke went through that whole emo-Chunin-exam-cursed-seal-Valley-of-the-End thing, and also went to Orochimaru before killing him like in canon. And Kabuto's still in the process of becoming his weird snakey self.**

**Everybody believes that the jinchuriki are dead and the bijuu floating in some state of nothingness. Suna is currently being governed by Temari and Kankurou until a new Kazekage is elected.**

**Tsunade is still Hokage, but, due to the sudden instability over the bijuu, Danzou has most of the control over the defenses, and anything he suggests most likely will pass.**

**Can't think of anything else...**


End file.
